Did You Know? “Hotel Del Luna” Would've Been Cancelled If IU Did Not Accept the Role
“We even thought to stop and rethink the project if we couldn’t cast her,” said the Hong Sisters, writers of the iconic K-drama.
by Kyla Villena
Published on Feb 11, 2026
Hotel Del Luna is a K-drama that effortlessly merges fantasy, mystery, romance, and comedy.
The series naturally became the highest-rated drama series on cable channel tvN in 2019, the year it was released. It’s the brainchild of Hong Jung-eun and Hong Mi-ran—also known as the Hong sisters—who are no strangers to fantasies, having created My Girlfriend Is a Gumiho in 2010, and Master’s Sun in 2013.
In Hotel Del Luna, singer and actress IU showcased her acting range as Jang Man-wol, the hot-tempered hotel owner cursed to live for over a thousand years. Opposite her was Yeo Jin Goo as Gu Chan-seong, the hotel’s steadfast manager. With its gripping storyline, striking cinematography, and covetable fashion, the series remains beloved today.
But did you know it was almost brought to a halt?
“Hotel Del Luna” Would've Been Cancelled Without IU
One word from IU could have stopped Hotel Del Luna from coming into fruition. According to Soompi, the script wasn’t necessarily written by the Hong Sisters with her in mind. However, they couldn’t picture anyone else playing the role.
“When casting, there were no alternatives for Jang Man-wol other than IU, and we even thought to stop and rethink the project if we couldn’t cast her.”
The writers were also asked by Korea JoongAng Daily in 2019 if it was true that they were only willing to make the series if IU said yes to being cast. To that, Mi-ran answered, “We really meant it.” She expounded, “Man-wol is a complex character with many different sides, from being haughty to charismatic to bossy to pathetic.”
They thought that IU “shares those sentiments” with the character, and so they—including the series’ director Oh Choong-hwan—all tried to win IU’s favorable decision.
Jung-eun shared that they had prepared a backup plan in case IU declined the role: they would reverse the dynamic and rework the story around a male hotel owner and a female manager. “But if we had to go that way,” she explained, “we might have lost some of the originality and wouldn’t have been able to explore the reversed gender roles between a female boss and a male employee.” She ultimately added, “It had to be IU, no matter what.”
Fortunately, IU placed her trust in the creators’ vision and went on to bring the now-iconic character to life, cementing her place in the phenomenon that is K-drama.
Kyla Villena loves a good lip gloss and a trip to the art gallery. She is Preview's beauty girl, who doubles as a self-proclaimed motivational speaker.
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